SERGE.

Let's talk about this:



Who is this gentleman, exactly? Serge Ibaka, age 20, from the Congo, drafted 24th in 2008 (ahead of: Nicolas Batum, George Hill, Mario Chalmers, Luc Mbah A Moute, etc.) Played in Spain last year. 6'10" tall, an athletic center. Maybe not ready for the league. But maybe, with plays like this.

What kind of irks me, though, is the modern blocked shot. With the Bill Russell era version, the idea was to keep the ball in play, to send it the other way. This new, post Ewing/Mutombo (did Georgetown/John Thompson play a role in this?) swat the ball as-far-as-you can business isn't accomplishing anything. Is it supposed to be some kind of psyche out? A show of athleticism at the cost of success? I mean, dunks are flashy, but they're still worth 2 points. LeBron, Dwight Howard...they all send the ball to the seats. The only counter examples I can think of are Tayshaun Prince* and Carl Landry, and even then I'm only thinking of specific plays.

To get back to Ibaka, though, I can see no better time to bust out this kind of freakish athleticism. It's the preseason, the upstart Thunder against the well established yet still (somewhat)radical Suns, and with doubts about his readiness at this level, it's a no brainer. The only downside is that there's no shot of where the ball landed. Westbrook-Harden-Durant-Green-Ibaka, today-tomorrow and forever.

*shamsports notes that the best anagram for Tayshaun Prince is "raunchy panties"; good to know.